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The Return of the King
2019 February 28 1999 VHS # 2019 February 28 # Quagmire Beats Up Brian # 2019 May 8 # Ruby's Scavenger Hunt # The Trouble with Trophies ---- ---- Synopsis by KorraIsBack & Dave Comments by aardvarky_tarrlok,TheArthurCircus & a correction by Majordomo_arthur & his cohorts(Onji_dreamlover,Mobo,AwkwardLeixia, & amazing_asami. ---- This is the third part of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. The first part, The'' Fellowship of the Ring'', told how Gandalf the Grey discovered that the ring possessed by Frodo the Hobbit was in fact the One Ring.... That was an attempt at humour craze. :) Anyway, onto the actual synopsis/episode review... :) Arthur's class are on a field trip to a medieval fair. There are lots of medieval looking tents, and everyone working at the fair is dressed up in period costume. Arthur and his classmates exit their school bus. Arthur: Whoa. This fair is so cool. It's just like being in the Middle Ages. Mr. Ratburn tells everyone to take lots of notes. A man wanders around trying to sell his wares: Haggis Merchant: Haggis! Two for a dollar! Buster takes down notes on haggis being two for a dollar. He doesn't know what haggis is, but it's worth noting their price. On a pedestal is a suitably medieval looking golden trophy shaped like a griffin. This is the "Golden Griffin". It's the trophy for whichever school does best at the different events at the medieval fair. Mr. Ratburn looks at the trophy adoringly. Arthur: Boy, he sure wants to win. Mr. Ratburn says that last year, his class came close to winning. He's sure that his class will win it this year. But who's their competition? Just then there's the sound of marching. A class of kids comes marching up towards Arthur's class. They're in close formation, and all in private school uniforms. Plus, they're singing a song as they march along. Glenbrook, Glenbrook, that's our school Glenbrook, Glenbrook we will rule. Go....... Glenbrook! Their teacher is an old rat with glasses, in a suit, with the air of a military colonel. Old Rat: Ah Ratburn, we meet again. This is Mr. Ratburn's old teacher, Mr. Pryce-Jones. The two teachers get into conversation. Mr. Pryce-Jones is still teaching, at Glenbrook Academy. How come? Mr. Pryce-Jones: They won't let me quit. It's because he's such a great teacher... Mr. Pryce-Jones says that his class has been on tour... Mr. Pryce Jones: ...Banff, Sienna, Avignon... All of the medieval fairs of Europe... He then says he's sure that this little fair should be no trouble for his students. Mr. Pryce-Jones' class just happens to be almost an exact kid-for-kid copy of Arthur's, only with slight variations in animal types. e.g.: Mr. Pryce-Jones' class has a dumb looking kid with a head shaped like Binky's, only instead of being a dog like Binky, this kid's a rabbit. One of Mr. Pryce-Jone's students points out that a nearby sundial's reading 10:14 -- time for the first event. The first event is to be "Merlin's Labyrinth". Mr. Pryce-Jones: Don't get lost among the way. He laughs at his little joke, turns and heads off with his students. Arthur's gang are sort of stunned by what they just witnessed. Mr. Ratburn seems to be in awe of that old Mr. Pryce-Jones. That, and they think that Mr. Pryce-Jones' class look like weirdos. Arthur: Have we ever played soccer against those guys? They seem kind of familiar. Buster: No way, I'd remember a weird looking bunch of kids like that. We're at the maze, which is a walkthrough maze made up of sheets tied to poles. Arthur's the competitor for Mr. Ratburn's team, and Pryce-Jones' team has an bear who's an Arthur clone. Merlin the Magician welcomes the teams, says some medieval mumbo jumbo about the maze, and finishes with: Merlin: I thee hence. The Glenbrook kid races into the maze. Arthur just stands where he is. Merlin drops his medieval lingo for a second. Merlin: That means go, kid. Arthur rushes into the maze. Mr. Ratburn gives Arthur a word of advice as he disappears into the maze; he tells Arthur to just use his head. Arthur and the other kid run through the maze, having to backtrack when they run into dead ends. Arthur ends up in a dead end. He can see his shadow on the cloth wall of the maze. Then he realizes that it's not his shadow, it's the shadow of his rival on the other side of the maze. Arthur falls backwards in surprise. Arthur tears a hole through one of the sheets. He's outside the maze now. Arthur: Guess I really used my head. But where is he? He's still at the fair, but he can't see the rest of his classmates. (Don't worry, it's not like he went back in time anyway) In front of Arthur is a line of people. At the head of the line is a stone with a sword stuck in it. The aim of the game is to try and pull out the sword from the stone. Nobody can do it though. As the people in line try their hand at it, a man dressed in medieval garb gives this little speech: Medieval guy: He, or she who pulls the sword from the stone truely is our king or queen. 'Tis an equal opportunity sword. Keep the line moving. All your might won't set things right -- 'Tis a gentle hand 'twil rule the land. Arthur gives it a try. He tugs and tugs at the sword, but it's in there pretty good; it's not coming out. Arthur gives up and steps down from the stone. Francine finds Arthur. She says that everyone's been looking for him; they figured he was lost. They lost the maze event by the way. There are lots of other events. Maybe Mr. Ratburn's team will fare better in those? Francine states the obvious. Francine: We're getting pulverized! Arthur's gang don't think they can win -- it's like playing against robots. Mr. Ratburn agrees that Mr. Pryce-Jones is a difficult teacher to go up against; he remembers studying Latin in Pryce-Jones' class back when he was a boy. He pushed his students to the limits, even timing them when they played on slides, seeing how many repetitions they could do. Mr. Ratburn: he was the best teacher I ever had. Mr. Ratburns in a thoughtful sort of mood as he contimplates the decisions he's made in his life. He tells Arthur and his friends who are gathered around that sometimes he wonders if he himself is not a tough enough teacher... Perhaps he should try to be more like Mr. Pryce-Jones... That's not a pleasant thought for Arthur and his friends. Both Mr. Ratburn's and Mr. Pryce-Jones' classes have a medieval style lunch in a large dining tent. Buster: Mmmmmm... This capon is good. Tastes just like chicken. One of Pryce-Jones's uberstudents: Capon IS chicken. During a pause in the meal, Mr. Pryce-Jones decides to have a fun little trivia quiz between the two schools. First question, name the 16th king of England. None of Mr. Ratburn's kids know. Mr. Pryce-Jones' is shocked that Mr. Ratburn hasn't taught his class the special song which helps you remember the kings of England. He'll sing it for them now. He calls on the Binky-like rabbit, who goes by the name of "Winky" to give him a C sharp to help him get started.. Winky blows a C sharp on a small pipe for Mr. Pryce-Jones, and Mr. Pryce-Jones begins to sing. Luckily, we're not subject to the entire song... Mr. Pryce-Jones is just concluding... after hearing the song, you now know the names of 42 English kings. Mr. Pryce-Jones' class think the song was great. Meanwhile, Arthur's gang have fallen asleep with boredom. Mr. Pryce-Jones and Mr. Ratburn get talking again after lunch. Pryce-Jones says that Mr. Ratburn can't argue with the fact that his methods are more effective. Mr. Ratburn's got to face the facts... Mr. Pryce-Jones: ...you can't beat us. Arthur and his friends come to a nasty realization. If they keep on losing all the events, Mr. Ratburn may start teaching us like Mr. Pryce-Jones. But how can they possibly beat his class? They're better than they are at everything. Buster doesn't think it even IS possible. Buster: Mr. Pryce-Jones just said so, and he's always right. There isn't any alternative though; they've got to win. Maybe they have a chance in the next event though; a mincemeat pie-eating contest. Buster is entered in this event. Medieval Pieman: On ye mark, get set, tuck ye. Buster guzzles down pie after pie face first, while the Glenwood kid, who looks vaguely Tibble-y eats daintily with a knife and fork. Pies and pies later, Buster's feeling ill, and can hardly eat another mouthful. Buster: Must...eat...more. The other kid though, is like some kind of freaky eating machine -- he just keeps eating and eating, without showing a hint of slowing down anytime soon, or being violently sick, or anything. Buster: I don't understand. Where does it all go? The Glenwood kid tells him that he's been practicing for this event by eating giant breakfasts lately. He reckons that he's been able to expand his stomach to an 18 L capacity. He pats his belly -- he's proud of his efforts. Buster just groans. Tennis next Francine: We're so lucky that Muffy's had tennis lessons since she was five. The Glenbrook girl, who's just as snobby as Muffy, serves, and the ball goes right through Muffy's racquet. Oh, didn't Muffy know? That's the sort of ball they played with in the 16th Century! Muffy decides it's a good idea to start making fun of the Glenbrook girl's racquet. It looks very heavy and old. Muffy scoffs that it's like something Henry the Eighth would have used. For Muffy's information says the girl, it was used by Henry the Fifth. Glenbrook girl: He was my great, great, great, great, great, great uncle. Ok, so they lost tennis... Next up is a trivia contest. Arthur's team enters Brain. Merlin the magician spins "Fortuna's wheel" and reads out the first question. The question asks what is at the center of our solar system. Brain quickly answers that the sun is at the center. Brain: That was easy. WRONG. Glenbrook's kid, who goes by the unlikely nickname of I.Q. gets the points. Unless his name is actually I.Q... When Brain protests, he's told that you have to give the answer that was believed right in the Middle Ages! Mr. Ratburn's class aren't doing so well, are they? Maybe they should just give up... Buster: We've lost for sure now. Might as well gets something to eat. Francine: You just ate 6 pies! Buster: I feel empty. Soon, they have a more pressing reason to groan. Arthur's friends spot Mr. Haney over among the trees with two kids, and Mr. Pryce-Jones. They're in conversation; they can overhear Mr. Haney... Mr. Haney: I know the kids would benefit if you taught them... The kids discuss what they heard while having a snack. Buster says that his "Unicorn dog" on a stick tastes like capon. Nobody pays any heed to Buster's comment, since they're worried that their lousy performance thus far at the medieval fair has done Mr. Ratburn in. Mr. Haney's already thinking of replacing Mr. Ratburn with bad old Mr. Pryce-Jones. They've got to win something. The next event is the castle building contest. Each class has to build a model castle. Arthur and his friends build a neat looking colorful castle out of construction paper. It has four towers, and a working drawbridge. It even has a flag which says "Lakewood" on it. Merlin the magician comes around to inspect the castles. He looks carefully at the creation of Mr. Ratburn's class. Merlin: Hmmm. Excellent crenillations! He operates the working drawbridge. Merlin: Smooth... Merlin sounds like he really likes the efforts of Arthur's class. Perhaps they've won? Unfortunately, the contest was for the most historically accurate castle, in which case, Glenwood's entry is the winner. Glenwood's castle is a dull looking affair which looks like it was made out of mud. Mr. Pryce-Jones decides it would be a good idea to tell Arthur and his friends what's wrong with their castle. He measures the width of the slits on the towers and says that they're too wide. Then he points to the flag and says that in medieval times, Lakewood would have had an "E" on the end. Arthur's gang feel bad. Mr. Ratburn says that the castle Arthur and his friends made is very good, and he's so proud of it that he's going to make sure it's put on display at the school. Arthur's gang feel worse. All of Arthur's gang are dreading having Mr. Pryce-Jones come and teach them. Plus, it would appear that Mr. Ratburn doesn't even though he's about to be replaced. That's about it for the day then. Not much left to do but to go home in shame. There's the sword in the stone though. It's still around, and nobody's been able to shift it all day. Mr. Pryce-Jones has a go. Nope, even he can't do it. Arthur must have been thinking about the words of the rhyme saying that a "gentle hand" will rule the land. He goes up for another go. But this time, instead of just yanking it, he wiggles the handle, which has a knob on the end. That does it. The sword comes out. Arthur holds it aloft, and a beam of light shines down on him. Medieval guy: We have a new king! Yeah, it's King Arthur. Who saw that coming? Arthur gets a crown. (He also apparently holds on to the sword, since it's kicking around under his bed in "Arthur and D.W. Clean Up") Arthur's a big hero, the "Golden Griffin" having apparently been forgotten about by everyone. Mr. Pryce-Jones: He beat everyone. Even me. Arthur and Mr. Ratburn are congratulated by Mr. Pryce-Jones. Mr. Pryce-Jones has got to admit that Mr. Ratburn has done well if he taught Arthur. Maybe Mr. Pryce-Jones underestimated his pupil Mr. Ratburn -- and his class for that matter. Mr. Pryce-Jones: I couldn't have done it better. There's only one thing left to do then; get Mr. Ratburn his job back. Arthur and his friends confront Mr. Haney. They don't want Mr. Ratburn to be replaced. Mr. Haney says he's not replacing Mr. Ratburn! He was just asking Mr. Pryce-Jones if he could possibly be a private tutor for his neice and nephew! Phew. Everyone's relieved. That is, everyone except the niece and nephew in question; they don't look particularly happy with the propect of the tutilage of Mr. Pryce-Jones. Riding back to school on the school bus, everyone in Arthur's class feels much better than they had during the day. Arthur's still sporting his crown. The conversation is centering around how lucky they are not to have Mr. Pryce-Jones as their teacher. Why, Buster even imagines... Buster: I bet he even gave those kids homework. Mr. Ratburn: Thank you for reminding me. Mr. Ratburn begins to ramble on about what they'll be doing next in school. They'll have to work hard to make up for the time they missed coming to this fair. Maybe he should give them a quiz on the rulers of England, etc., etc... The bus keeps on eating up the miles on the way home to Lakewood Elementary. Arthur's gang groan. End. The Glenwood clones of Arthur's gang reminded me of Amon and Tarrlok from The Legend of Korra. Originally I wrote “Tarrlok & Amon” but that was messed up.' ''Onji_dreamlover and her eunuch Majordomo_arthur' '''Emailed me. Thanks guys…. >You always said that your review ‘''Return of the King''’ that are some students that are lookalike >Reminded you of Amon & Tarrlok from'' ‘The Legend of Korra’(the episode ‘Skeletons in the Closet, to be exact)'' >Basically, Amon’s real name was Noatok. Amon’s name was mentioned in the book of Matthew. All I can say to that is "You wanna go tippy toe with me,pretty boy?" :) Oops. Sorry about that... Francine's loss in the archery contest reminded me of the million or so times we've seen archery tournaments where the Sheriff of Nottingham gets a bullsye, and then Robin Hood splits the arrow with one of his own. I expected to see this cliche again here, except that you can't split suction-tipped darts... :) I spend more time looking at the background than the foreground, these days :) I noticed on the bus back from the medieval fair Muffy and Francine were ignoring one another for some reason... 18 L stomach capacity? That's just plain nasty -- and enough to make me wanna throw up my mincemeat pies. Too bad it wasn't a haggis eating contest. Category:Episodes Category:Warner, Home Video, 1999, VHS